1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of thermally powered heat transfer systems, and more particularly relates to heating systems. This invention incorporates a new general method of converting a portion of the heat from a heat source having a temperature below the temperature desired for a given purpose to the temperature desired for that purpose. This invention actively utilizes some of the heat from that heat source when a sufficiently low temperature heat sink is available to raise the temperature of other heat from that same heat source to a usable temperature. This new general method is of major significance at this time because it permits naturally occurring low grade heat sources, such as ground heat, to be made useful for the heating of homes and other structures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
This invention is related to U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,547 issued Dec. 6, 1983, and is an improvement thereon. The invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,547 employs two heat sources having different temperatures and one or more heat sinks having an intermediate temperature to effect the cooling or heating of a structure. The present invention employs a single heat source in the presence of a lower temperature heat sink to effect the heating of a structure which itself becomes the higher temperature heat sink. The invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,547 always has a high temperature heat source above the temperature of the heat sink together with a low temperature heat source below the temperature of the heat sink. The present invention always has a heat sink above the temperature of the heat source together with a second heat sink below the temperature of the heat source. Because this invention has the capability of raising the temperature of a portion of the heat from a lowgrade but quantitatively substantial heat source, it is uniquely useful for the heating of a structure without the use of fuel.